Under Pressure
by goldsdustwoman
Summary: John Deacon's cousin went through a lot with him and the rest of Queen.


Fall, 1974  
"'Spose Mary and Cara hit it off? They were supposed to be here an hour ago." John was strumming on his bass guitar in a mindless fashion.  
"Mary phoned before they left the airport and said that Cara wanted a new outfit for tonight's gig." Freddie was lying on the couch upside down, his feet straight up in the air as he applied eyeliner to his face as he looked into a compact mirror. Mary had taught him how to put it on, but he was now even better at it than she was.  
"Haven't seen her since she and I were kids. It'd be nice to see her before the show." John said, his tone irritated.  
"Once we begin our next tour of the states we can invite her to a few of the shows." Freddie threw the eyeliner and the compact onto the couch cushion next to him before moving into an upright position.  
"If." John felt the need to be a bit realistic.  
"When." Freddie's voice, which had taken on a less playful tone, was accompanied by Brian's who had just gotten out of the shower.  
"I've also noticed that you've avoided describing your cousin as a female in front of Rog." Brian smirked. A white towel clung to his waist as he dug through what was supposed to be his underwear drawer, but has turned into a sea of condom wrappers and other articles of clothing that belonged in the drawers below. Roger was the messiest of them all, guess it has rubbed off on Brian in the few weeks that's they'd all been living together on the bus.  
"Most certainly have not." Deacy sat up defensively, gripping his instrument a bit tighter. His two bandmates just looked at him. "Okay, I have. And I'm hoping that he gets here before she does so we can have a little conversation about.. I dunno, boundaries?"  
"Roger's never heard of boundaries." Brian shook his head just as the trailer's door was opening.  
"I heard my name." Was all the Roger said as he flopped onto the couch next to Freddie. Roger looked around expectantly. "Well."  
"Deacy has something he wants to tell you." Brian said as he slipped into a pair of loose fitting boxers along with a plain white T-shirt. John gave him a dirty look.  
"It's nothing." John, as usual, tried to avoid any possible confrontation. Even if it mattered to him.  
"It's not nothing. It's that he doesn't want you to try and shag his hot American cousin who's coming to the show tonight." Freddie shrugged before getting up and climbing onto his bunk to grab a pack of cigarettes.  
"Never thought much of Americans or America. So, whatever you say, mate." Roger pinched John's cheek before heading into the bathroom.  
"See, a little confrontation can help get you exactly what you want." Freddie remarked, smirking as he climbed off of his bed.  
"We'll see." Was all John said in response. Being bold usually did Freddie favors, but it didn't work for John, most of the time. He felt maybe he just wasn't meant to be bold the way the rest of his bandmates were.  
Mary's distinct laugh had come into play about three minutes later. Two feminine sounding voices were then chatting excitedly within earshot of the men on the bus.  
The trailer's door opened again, first revealing Mary, then Cara. The American girl ran up to John, squealing as she threw her arms around him.  
"Johnny boy, you look so different." She grabbed ahold of his face and made him look straight into her honey-colored eyes.  
"I suppose I should given you haven't seen me in person since we were twelve." John finally returned the hug. Deacy's bandmates began to snicker. He pulled away from his cousin's embrace.  
"What is it?" He eyed the three.  
"Oh, nothing. Johnny boy." Brian spit out before he broke out into laughter along with Freddie and Roger.  
"Just ignore them, that's what I do. Veronica and I are going to take you to dinner before the show starts." Cara opened her mouth to show her eagerness for the opportunity to spend time with her cousin and the girl that he'd been telling her all about during their weekly phone calls. He wasn't someone who usually talked about the girls he was interested in and he just wouldn't shut up about her. Cara thought that Veronica must be something special.  
"Um, woah, woah. You said we were gonna work on the whole set before the show tonight." Brian looked to meet John's gaze in a serious manner.  
"Come on Bri-" the darker haired man shook his head furiously.  
"Nope. You want us to be more serious. I'm not letting this slide because the Yankee is here. Come on, let's go now." Brian leaned down and grabbed hold of his guitar, kneeling down and setting it in its felt case. John rolled his eyes, but complied, knowing Brian was right.  
"Oh, Cara! Did I mention how much I appreciate America? What's it like there? I've not been able to explore it." Roger walked closer to where Cara stood and leaned against one of the sets of bunk beds. A collective groan was emitted from Freddie, John, and Brian.  
"Oh, good God." Mary shook her head as she looked on at Roger.  
"You didn't. And it's actually a pretty interesting place to live." Roger had moved closer to where Cara stood as she'd given her answer.  
"I'm Roger, by the way. I could show you around town before the show. London's pretty interesting too." Cara parted her lips that were painted a wine red color and then closed them quickly, only to part them again, finally speaking.  
"Thank you, Roger. Really. But, I was gonna ask Mary if we could grab a bite with Veronica before the show." Cara looked to Mary, who was leaned against the trailer's door. Mary chuckled to herself, eyeing Roger still.  
"Why, sure we can." Mary smiled at Cara, then chuckling in Roger's direction.  
"You know, I was going to advise you to stay away from dear old Roger, but I thought you seemed smart enough to come to that conclusion yourself. And you were. You and I- we're gonna get on just fine Miss Cara." Freddie gestured towards Cara with his right hand, a lit cigarette between his pointer and middle finger.  
"We'll be the best of friends, Freddie." Cara winked at the singer.  
"Oh, we're definitely getting drinks with her after the show, Mary." Freddie was sure that this girl was going to make for interesting experiences.  
"You can leave the shopping bags on the couch. We can change when we get back from dinner. John, phone Veronica and tell her to meet us at The Ivy." Mary bent down and kissed Freddie on the mouth quickly. Before heading out the door, holding it open for Cara.  
"Good to see you, dear." John pressed his cheek against Cara's, pecking her quickly.  
"I'll see you at the show. It'll be wonderful. Nice to see you all!" Cara followed Mary out the door before it slammed shut.  
"Feel that?" Brian murmured.  
"Feel what?" Roger narrowed his eyes as he stared at Brian expectantly.  
"That, my friend, is rejection. I'm not quite sure if you've felt it before. But Miss America just rejected you." Freddie began to cackle as soon as Brian was done speaking, soon joined by John, a shit eating grin on his face.

"She's still not giving him the time of day. It's a little hard to watch." Mary leaned against the wall of the pub that the band had decided to go to after the show. Freddie was right next to her, finishing up his fourth beer of the night.  
"I'm not as surprised by that as I am that he's still trying." Mary smiled softly before looking up at Freddie.  
"History major? That's great. That's extraordinary." Roger sat on the bar stool next to Cara, who was sipping at a vodka cran.  
"I'm not gonna be able to do much with it. Teacher? Maybe. But what else?" Roger hadn't let her say anything without responding to it directly, afraid she'd try and walk away.  
"You'd make a fine professor." Roger said before downing his eighth shot of whiskey.  
"And how would you know that?" Cara raised her right eyebrow, rather curious as to what kind he could possibly pull now.  
"Most professors don't even really like what they teach. You- your eyes light up. Plus- you'd be easy to look at for hours every day." Roger's hand rested comfortably on Cara's lower waist as he began to lean towards her face. Cara's eyes widened as Roger's eyes shut.  
"I should go see what Veronica and John are doing." Cara quickly slid off her stool, her feet landing firmly on the wooden floor.  
"Let me take you out for a bite tomorrow afternoon?" Roger said rather boldly, even though Cara's back was to him.  
"You're nice, Roger. But I'm not looking to go on dates with a flirty musician that I'm not gonna see again for another four or five years after I leave next week." Roger was someone who could usually respond smoothly, but this had him at a loss for words.  
"Wh-who says it was gonna be a date?" The blonde tried and failed to come across unbothered by what Cara had just said to him.  
"You did just try to kiss me, so I just assumed... Maybe I shouldn't have." She turned to look at the blonde.  
"Yeah, maybe you shouldn't have." Rog scoffed. Cara purses her lips, tilting her head as she stared at him for a moment before turning back around to walk in the opposite direction.  
"What's wrong with one date? I'm not gonna hurt you, Cara." Her shoulders visibly sunk downward after hearing his words.  
"I saw you all perform tonight. It's special. You're special. Queen is special. You'll tour the states again sooner or later. You can take me out whenever that happens... if you even want to still." Roger grabbed her wrist to make her look at him.  
"Promise?" He murmured. Cara just laughed and nodded.


End file.
